Another Reason to Oppose Common Core: Liberal Curriculum on the Constitution

           A classroom resource written by several of Common Core’s lead writers contains lessons on the United States Constitution that claim the Framers only regarded white males with property as persons, according to CNS.

            The liberal belief that the Founding Fathers did not extend the guarantees of liberty to blacks and women is based upon ignorance and bias.  Free blacks and women were both persons and citizens under the Constitution.  Liberty is the birthright of all persons, while certain privileges are conveyed by citizenship. 

            Slaves could be of any race, as could slave-owners.  Regardless, even slaves were referred to as “Persons,” such as in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which phased out the slave trade.  Three Fifths Rule of Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, which also refers to slaves simply as “Persons,” was another anti-slavery provision.  As I have posted previously, it reduced the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives, which is based upon population, to States where slavery was legal because the slaves could not be counted fully toward the total population.  Otherwise, the slave-owning states would have had a larger share of seats in the House and been able to protect and expand slavery beyond the possibility of abolition.  In no way did the Three Fifths Rule necessarily make slaves less than full persons under the federal Constitution.  

            States, not the Constitution or the federal government it created, determined the qualifications for the franchise.  It is important to note, however, that voting is a privilege, not a right.  Non-citizens are persons, but may not vote and even some citizens, such as minors, convicted felons and the mentally incapacitated may not exercise the franchise.  The privilege to vote, as well as other privileges permitted by the States, was guaranteed by the Privileges and Immunities Clause, Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution.   

           I have posted about the numerous dangers of Common Core in my post from September of 2013, Stop Common Core Now!, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2013/09/stop-common-core-now.html, but the liberal bias of the curriculum based upon it is yet another reason to oppose it.  It has been encouraging that several more States have opted out of Common Core.  Let us keep up the pressure to stop this dangerous scheme from the damage it would cause to education and to civil society and replace it with truly rigorous educational standards that teach students not only the basics of a good education, but how to think critically and prepare them for good citizenship.